OVER 100 upland farmers representing the people's organizations from Bukidnon and Misamis Oriental participated in the entrepreneurial seminar conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-Northern Mindanao last Tuesday, November 27, at the Dynasty Court Hotel, Cagayan de Oro City.
As part of the Integrated Natural Resources and Environment Management Project-Livelihood Enhancement Support 2 (INREMP-LES 2), one of the major projects of DTI in partnership with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), DTI conducted the Entrepreneurship Seminar for INREMP-LES 2: Negosyong Makakalikasan.
"This activity is part of the implementation of the Integrated Natural Resources and Environmental Management Project-Livelihood Enhancement Support 2. This project aims to address unsustainable watershed management in four priority Upper River Basins of the country, which includes the Bukidnon Upper River Basin in Northern Mindanao," DTI-Northern Mindanao Assistant Regional Director Ermedio Abang said.
Abang added that the Negosyong Makakalikasan seminar is to help the upland farmers from Bukidnon and Misamis Oriental to develop a good business sense for enterprise start-up and at the same time save the watershed.
The project, according to Jocelyn Rosales, the Senior Trade and Industry Development Specialist/INREMP-LES 2 program manager, started July 2018 and will end in 2020.
Rosales added that only selected people's organizations were qualified to be included in the project, picked through certain criteria such as: the people's organization should be under the four priority sectors: Abaca, Coffee, Bamboo and Cacao clusters; For cacao and coffee farmers, their product should be harvest ready; they should be in the watershed; and they should be registered in the DTI or Cooperative Development Authority and should have a legal identity and active status.
To properly guide and inspire the upland farmers present during the seminar, the DTI also invited speakers for each of the four clusters: engineer Vivian Libao of PUYO Handicraft for the Abaca cluster; Datu Rio Besto of MILALITTRA for the Coffee cluster; Myrna Decipulo for the Bamboo cluster; and doctor Agustin Mercado Jr. of MOCIDA for the Cacao cluster.
"Sila mismo naglisod, lain-lain ang ilaang fields. Karon kung makit-an nato sila, grabe na kaayo ka successful. Pero amo silang gipa-share kung aha sila nagsugod, kung unsa ang mga failures nga ilang naagihan ug giunsa na nila'g overcome," Rosales said.
"By that, hopefully, ma-realize sa atong mga participants na 'Oi, dili man diay ni imposible,'" she added.
The INREMP-LES 2 project started July 2018 wherein the DTI personnel went on-site to evaluate and identify the qualified people’s organizations for the project and assess which aspect they needed assistance, be it in terms of equipment or livelihood skills to improve their productivity.
After identifying the qualified people’s organizations, they will undergo the seminar in November and in December, the DTI will provide the Shared Services Facilities to the farmers who will need and use the equipment, Rosales said.